


Kind of wonderful

by slowroad



Series: A forever love [3]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Era, Fluff, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:08:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26063224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slowroad/pseuds/slowroad
Summary: Arthur wakes up to find that he's spent half the night lying on the floor with his head on Merlin's lap.This fic follows directly from the previous one in this series. It might help to read them in order.
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Series: A forever love [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1887751
Comments: 2
Kudos: 141





	Kind of wonderful

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: These characters do not belong to me. I have simply borrowed them for a while.

Arthur woke up to see the first light of the sun streaming through the window. It took him a moment to realise that he was lying on the carpet in front of the fireplace, with his head pillowed on Merlin's lap. Merlin was sitting with his head leaned back against the bed, obviously asleep. 

He remembered falling asleep with his head resting on Merlin's shoulder sometime in the middle of the night. Merlin had been running his fingers through Arthur's hair and that had been...nice. It had relaxed him enough to let him sleep. He noticed that Merlin still had one hand resting on Arthur's head while his other hand rested lightly on Arthur’s chest. 

_This is a lovely way to wake up,_ he thought as he looked up at Merlin who looked so relaxed in his sleep. It occurred to him then that this was something of a special occasion. Merlin saw him asleep and just about to wake up every day, but Arthur had never seen Merlin like this. 

He felt so content, lying there on the floor, with his head on Merlin's lap, Merlin arms around him, holding him like was something precious. It was a small thing to be happy about, perhaps, but life had taught him that the best moments, the ones most worth treasuring are the small ones, the quiet ones. 

For all that Arthur was a prince, his life hadn't ever been easy, privileged, but not easy. Like he'd told Merlin the previous night, he'd started training with a sword when he was four years old. He would spend hours in the training ground and several more hours studing with his tutor every day and he was expected to excel at everything. 

He'd entered his first tournament when he was twelve and he'd gone on his first campaign, fighting alongside grown men when he was thirteen. He'd fought hard, he'd killed people, he'd been injured more times than he could count, he'd lost soldiers and knights, men he'd cared about, he'd known loss and pain and through it all, he'd been expected to be stoic, to never show any emotion and to never expect anyone to care very much about what he might be feeling. And he'd got used to it. 

In the space of just a year, Merlin had changed all that. He cared about what Arthur was thinking and feeling, not the prince of Camelot, but Arthur the man and everything he did for Arthur, whether it was cleaning his room or polishing his sword, was done not because it was his job, but because he cared. 

And he often went above and beyond, like last night. It was such a thoughtful and generous thing to do, to bring him tea in the middle of the night, because he'd noticed, somehow, that Arthur had trouble sleeping on the night before a tournament. The fact that he had collected the food from the kitchens earlier in the day meant that he'd planned the whole thing, that he'd thought about Arthur and about what he might need. 

Arthur had never had anyone care about him in this way before and it was strange and kind of wonderful. He reached up and laid a hand on Merlin's face, feeling the hint of stubble against his fingers. He felt a rush of affection for this dear, sweet man, that life had chosen to gift him with. 

Merlin opened his eyes, looking adorably confused. He looked at Arthur and then he smiled the biggest smile.

"Good morning," he said, his voice deliciously rough with sleep. 

"Morning, Merlin. Thank you for the tea and the company last night and for letting me use you as a pillow."

"It's no trouble."

"I'm not sure I agree. I think you went to quite a bit of trouble for me, but I won't argue the point. It's time to get up."

Arthur reached up, kissed Merlin on his cheek and got up. It was time to start the day. 


End file.
